Skincare: Trying Out Double-Cleansing

Hey everyone! Recently, I've been hearing about this Japanese skincare trend that is double-cleansing. The whole idea of double-cleansing is that you wash your face twice, the first time with cleansing oil, and the second with your regular face wash. Apparently, by washing your face with a cleansing oil first, not only does it help remove makeup easier, but it also cleans out the initial layer of grime off your face which will then help your face wash really cleanse your face. 

I was intrigued by the whole idea of this system, as someone who wears makeup quite often and wants to make sure that they are all cleansed away by the end of the night. I like the idea of adding a pre-cleanse step, before washing my face with face wash, and so I decided to go ahead and try out this system for my evening routine for a whole week. My only concern with it is what effects the cleansing oil will give my already oily skin. I'm hoping that it won't affect it that much, because after all, there is another cleansing step right after the cleansing oil. 

The Experience

First off, the cleansing oils that I decided to use were MAC's Cleanse-Off Oil and Tatcha's Camellia Cleansing Oil as they were the ones I already have in my skincare stash. I normally use MAC Wipes or the Sephora Triple Action Cleansing Water  to remove my makeup.

For the first time I tried this system, I decided to remove my makeup like I normally would before washing my face. I then cleansed with the cleansing oil, and then used my Philosophy Purity Cleanser with my Clarisonic for the second cleanse.  My skin definitely felt much cleaner than when I just used my Clarisonic and cleanser. I then proceeded to finish my regular night-time skincare routine. All I needed to see, now, is if it affected how oily I am in the morning . I woke up the next day, and I didn't really notice much of a difference with how oily my skin got in the morning. So far, the double-cleansing experience is going pretty well!

The second night, I did about the same thing as I did the first time, except I decided to only remove my eye makeup with makeup remove. I used the Tatcha cleansing oil to remove the rest of my face makeup and also as the first step to double-cleansing, as it is also marketed as a cleanser and makeup remover in one. I felt that it did remove the makeup quite well, although my skin did not feel as squeaky clean as it did on the first night. It is important to note that I wear a full-coverage and long-lasting foundation which may be the reason why my skin felt that way. The morning after, my face wasn't oilier than it usually is, although, I've noticed that there were certain makeup smudges on my face, which tells me that cleansing with cleansing oils alone won't suffice for me. 

The Verdict

The rest of my trial week, I decided to switched around both cleansing oils and followed my first time method for double-cleansing. I really enjoyed the feeling of how clean my skin was and am now able to say, confidently, that I am a double-cleansing convert! I noticed that I also did not have as much congested areas (pores?) as before and my skin felt smoother in texture. What solidified my opinions toward double-cleansing was after the one week trial, I decided to just cleanse my face traditionally, and I did not like how my skin felt at all. I also noticed 2 congested areas immediately the next day. Now, while I may like double cleansing, I only use this cleansing method on days when I'm wearing makeup. I don't feel the need to do this on days when I don't wear any makeup. I am aware that some women do this day and night as part of their routine, and for me that is just too much. 

Do I feel like everyone should be double-cleansing? I don't think so. I think it's quite nice and handy if you tend to break out a lot or you wear a lot of makeup. Otherwise, I do feel like a regular cleansing method works just as well. There is the option of doing double cleansing maybe once or twice awake, as a deep cleansing method. 

What are your thoughts about double-cleansing? Have you tried it out yet? Let me know below!